What the Heart Wants (but really shouldn't)
by Gomboc123
Summary: Roy almost feels alive when he looks at Riza, but she seems like she would rather die than keep hanging around him. Royai Warm Bodies AU for Royai Halloween Week on tumblr.


Happy Royai Halloween Week, everybody! It's been forever since I wrote a proper fanfic, but I'm trying to get back to normal. Anyway this is based off of amazing art by theysangastheyslew (tumblr) for her Warm Bodies AU! Big thanks to queenwinry and xennariel for reading over this beforehand. Please review!

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Riza Hawkeye still slept every night clutching her gun. He wasn't very surprised about it- not that he experienced strong emotions about anything, being dead and all- but the gun seemed natural. Though she tried her absolute best to hide it, he could still see her stiffen whenever he entered the room. He could still hear her breathing speed up whenever Maes was nearby. He could see the fear in her eyes whenever he got so close as ten feet away from her. The gun was the only thing that gave her some semblance of safety and control in the situation she was in, even if it had run out of ammunition long ago.

In hindsight, he regretted his actions. Very much. Even though Riza somehow made his rotting heart flutter, and his dead body feel almost _alive_ , it had been a mistake to bring her back with him. Because he loved her, and she was miserable. She was hiding in the decaying remains of a sketchy bar, gripping her unloaded gun so tight her knuckles were turning white, and she was terrified.

Of course, being just as undead as the hoard of zombies which would eat her if they got the chance, Riza trusted him no more than she could reach out and slash his neck. Even after he saved her during her ill-fated escape attempt, all he'd done was bring her back to the bar and tell her not to try and escape again. He didn't mean for her to feel trapped, but he also didn't know how else to keep her safe in the predicament he'd gotten her into. He'd saved her, but he'd also condemned her to being his prisoner in a zombie-infested wasteland, and he knew she hated him for it.

She would always hate him for it.

He frowned, looking down at his dirty, empty shot glass he'd only pretended to drink out of and pushed it away from him. He didn't know what to do. God, he wished Maes were here. Maes would probably know a lot more about romance, and they could groan about it for hours. Maybe he would get an idea from that. He wasn't supposed to come over until later, but he could get him and bring him back early.

Quickly as he could (which was not very quickly at all), he looked back at where Riza had barricaded herself in the corner with some unused tables and chairs, and lay fast asleep with an old fur coat as a makeshift blanket. Hopefully she would stay asleep until he got back with Maes.

So he stood up, still watching Riza Hawkeye with more intensity than he'd watched anything else in years, and began walking out the door. Everything was going well until he forgot he should also be looking where he was going and ran into a chair.

Riza jolted awake as the chair clattered to the ground, and she brought her gun up in front of her, aiming intensely until she realized it was only him making the racket. She lowered the gun but not her glare.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was so clear, so melodic and nothing like his own.

"Hhhhhhnnhhghh mmmaaaaaaaeeeeessssss…"

"Maize?" She was confused, obviously. It wasn't like anyone had ever told her Maes' name, "Are you finally getting me something to eat?"

Eat? Instinctively, his hand went for the chunks of brain in his pocket, but then he stopped. Humans didn't eat brains, did they? Especially not the brains of their fathers. Only disgusting, dead things like him did that.

He must have been standing there silently for too long, because Riza spoke up again, "You know, _eat_ ," She made a fork motion with her free hand, "I'm hungry."

Hungry. So was he. But the difference between them was that he knew where to get his food, but had no idea where to even begin looking for hers.

"Doooonn'ttt knnoooowwwww…" He tried his best to make an apologetic face, but Riza just frowned.

"Can we please at least look around?" She stood and brushed some dust off of her clothes, "I'm not going to make it much longer if you don't give me anything." She had a point- of course she did- he knew the feeling of hunger all too well, and he didn't want to subject her to the constant, unpleasant gnawing he always felt in his stomach.

"Okaaaaaaaayyy… Check…. Baaackkkk… No outsiiide… keeeep you saaafe..." he turned around once more and began meandering toward the back of the bar, where he had found some old stores of alcohol. Hopefully, there would also be human food there as well.

Riza Hawkeye was skeptical of where he was taking her, but she followed him nonetheless, and the two of them eventually made it into the back. She noticed an old refrigerator, and walked over to put her hand on the door. She quickly opened it before scrunching her entire face up in disgust and slamming it closed once more, "This food rotted away years ago, I can't eat it. I'll get sick. Do you have any cans?"

Cans. There were cans. Probably beer cans, but maybe not all of them. He started looking around on the ground for some cans, but heard Riza pick something up and bang it against the table. When he saw her, he also saw a fizzing bottle of beer with the cap off. She opened her mouth and took multiple large gulps.

"I never thought something as terrible as Bud Lite could ever taste so good."

So was she full now?

"Now if only I had something to eat with it."

No.

The two of them searched three rooms, Riza moving at lightning speed, and him moving at something less than a quarter of that. It took almost half an hour, but eventually Riza gasped out loud and jumped up. In her triumphant hands was an unmarked can with only two dents in it.

"I don't suppose you have a can opener."

He shrugged, she pulled a small knife out of her pocket and jammed it into the aluminum. Her nimble hands carved out a circle in the top of the can, and she pried the top off, eyes gleaming at the prospect of food. How was it that she looked cute doing that, but he just looked bloodthirsty whenever he ate? Oh right...

With her hands, she pulled yellow chunks out of the can and popped them into her mouth, moaning in pleasure, "It's been too long since I've eaten."

He stood awkwardly in the corner, not sure whether to leave Riza on her own to eat her meal, or to go with her when she pulled a chair up to the nearest table and sit down. So he stayed in the corner, watching her and watching the doors to make sure nothing could get to her.

Most of her meal went by silently. Again, that wasn't very surprising. Why talk to something that could barely reply? Why talk to something that kidnapped her?Why talk to something like a disgusting rotting corpse?

For something that wasn't supposed to feel, he was extraordinarily sad. He'd only taken her because he wanted to protect her. Without him, she would likely be dead- _really_ dead, not the strange limbo he was stuck in. But instead he had stupidly forced her against her will to come back with him, to a place crawling with zombies and infinitely more dangerous. And seeing a Bud Lite and a can of yellow fruit made her happier than seeing him. The perpetual blank expression on his face was replaced by a frown.

Eventually, Riza finished her meal, then loaded her arms with numerous other dented cans and a couple more bottles of beer. She walked out of the room without asking him to follow her, but he did anyway. He still wanted to protect her from anything that might walk into the bar uninvited. Nothing did, and they made it back to the front room where Riza stashed her food next to where she slept.

She turned to look at him, and for once, he couldn't read her expression. Her face was still dirty from when he'd had to smear blood on her cheek to hide her scent, and her hair was greasy from her lack of showers in the time she'd been at the bar. He hated how she was still beautiful enough this way to make his dead heart think it was alive.

"Listen… thank you for the food," She ran a hand through her bangs, "And this coat too, I guess," She gestured to her makeshift blanket.

"You- you'rrre welcooome," He responded, and hoped that he didn't look too excited on the outside, "No probleem," He was probably failing

"Yeah," She rubbed a hand over her arm, showing off an impressive bicep, "So thank you… what do I call you?"

Did he hear that correctly? Did… did Riza Hawkeye just ask him for his name? He stood frozen in place for a moment before realizing that she was staring at him weirdly again.

"Do you have a name?" She asked him, that damned gun still in her hand. He needed to say something back to her… if only he could.

He couldn't remember his name, not past "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….." anyway.

"What's your name?"

"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr…."

"Does your name start with an 'R'?"

He stopped making sounds, surprised yet amazed by how smart she was to have immediately pieced that together. He nodded.

"Can you say the rest of your name too?" She asked. This time he shook his head, "Do you have a full name at all," Another shake.

He was glad he physically couldn't blush anymore, because otherwise his face would certainly be heating up. Why couldn't he do anything right around her? The only genuine interest she'd shown in him since the first time she'd met him was learning his name, and he couldn't supply her with one.

"Hmmm, that won't do," He lowered his gaze from hers in shame.

"Why don't I just call you…" Slowly, he saw the gun in her hand lower as well, and a spark of hope danced around his chest, "...Roy?"

Roy. _Roy_. He looked up at her with wide eyes. Just twelve hours ago, she had hated him enough to try and run away; now she was talking to him and giving him a name.

"Does that sound okay?" She asked, obviously still unsure how to read his pale face.

But he made it so she wouldn't have to and he nodded. _Roy_ nodded.

"Roy.. is goood…" He tried cracking a smile.

"Okay, good," Riza gave him a tiny, awkward smile in return, "Well I'm going back to sleep now... Roy."

"Kaaay," He said, and watched as she turned around and crawled back into her little barricade to get some rest. He- _Roy_ couldn't believe what had just happened.

Riza giving him a name wasn't an indication that she was beginning to like him, it probably was just something she wanted to know to avoid confusion. But even so, the thought of it made Roy feel like he needed to take deep breaths. Even if he didn't make any huge strides with Riza today, he made a start. The hate in her heart for him may not have disappeared, but he hoped it diminished somewhat. Any little bit, he would take.

A name meant he planned on talking to him more in the future. It meant he was significant enough in her mind to differentiate from all the other brainless zombies crawling around outside. It meant that whether it was for better or for worse, he and she were connected by some bond, somehow.

He wasn't sure if Riza Hawkeye would ever stop hating him due to the undead monster he was, but she had given him more than just a name today. She had given him hope, and he wasn't going to let go of it.


End file.
